The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.
Parallel Translations
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The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.
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The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
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The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Proverbs 21:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.
- Matthew 25:26 “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.
- Proverbs 12:24 The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.
- Proverbs 19:24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
- Proverbs 12:27 The slothful man doesn’t roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.
- Proverbs 15:19 The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.
- Proverbs 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.
- Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
- Proverbs 24:30-34 I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction: a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.
- Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!”
- Proverbs 26:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (20 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He thinketh to live by wishing and desiring all…
He thinketh to live by wishing and desiring all things, but will take no pain to get ought.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 21:25 The desire of the slothful killeth him;…
Pro 21:25 The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Ver. 25. The desire of the slothful killeth him.] He only wisheth well to himself; but refusing to labour, "pineth away in his iniquity." {Lev 26:39} Neither grace nor wealth is had with wishing; Nemo casu fit sapiens, saith Seneca. {a} Some have a kind of willingness and velleity, a kind of wambling after the best things, but it doth not boil up to the full height of resolution for God.
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“ Virtutem exoptant, contabescuntque relicta. ” - Pers.
Carnal men care not to seek after him whom yet they would fain find, saith Bernard; Cupientes consequi sed non et sequi; have heaven they would, but stick at the hard conditions; like faint chapmen, they bid money for heaven, but are loath to come up to the full price for it. Balaam wished well to heaven; so did the young Pharisee in the gospel, that came to Christ hastily, but went away heavily. Herod for a long time desired to see Christ, but never stirred out of doors to see him. Pilate asked Christ, What is truth? but never stayed his answer. The sluggard puts out his arm to rise, and pulls it in again; he turns upon his bed, as the door doth upon the hinges, which yet comes not off for all the turnings, but hangs still, and this is his utter undoing. Men must not think that good things, whether spiritual or temporal, will drop out of the clouds to them, as towns were said to come into Timotheus’s toil while he slept. {b} Now, "perform the doing of it," saith St Paul to those lazy Corinthians. {2Co 8:12} A thirsty man will not only long for drink, but labour after it. A covetous man will not only wish for wealth, but strive to compass it. Yet not every covetous man, I confess; for in the next verse it is said of the sluggard,
{a} Epist. 77.
{b} Aemuli ipsius dormientem piuxerant. - Plut. in Sulla.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Killeth him; either,
Killeth him; either,
1. Tormenteth him almost to death, whilst he passionately desires that which he sees he shall not enjoy, and will not take pains to procure. Or,
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2. Exposeth him to extreme want, and so to death, or to such wicked courses, for the supply of his wants, as bring him to an untimely death.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here we have, 1. The miseries of the slothful,…
Here we have, 1. The miseries of the slothful, whose hands refuse to labour in an honest calling, by which they might get an honest livelihood. They are as fit for labour as other men, and business offers itself, to which they might lay their hands and apply their minds, but they will not; herein they fondly think they do well for themselves, see Pro 26:16. Soul, take thy ease. But really they are enemies to themselves; for, besides that their slothfulness starves them, depriving them of their necessary supports, their desires at the same time stab them. Though their hands refuse to labour, their hearts cease not to covet riches, and pleasures, and honours, which yet cannot be obtained without labour. Their desires are impetuous and insatiable; they covet greedily all the day long, and cry, Give, give; they expect every body should do for them, though they will do nothing for themselves, much less for any body else. Now these desires kill them; they are a perpetual vexation to them, fret them to death, and perhaps put them upon such dangerous courses for the satisfying of their craving lusts as hasten them to an untimely end. Many that must have money with which to make provision for the flesh, and would not be at the pains to get it honestly, have turned highwaymen, and that has killed them. Those that are slothful in the affairs of their souls, and yet have desires towards that which would be the happiness of their souls, those desires kill them, will aggravate their condemnation and be witnesses against them that were convinced of the worth of spiritual blessings, but refused to be at the pains that were necessary to the obtaining of them. 2. The honours of the honest and diligent. The righteous and industrious have their desires satisfied, and enjoy not only that satisfaction, but the further satisfaction of doing good to others. The slothful are always craving and gaping to receive, but the righteous are always full and contriving to give; and it is more blessed to give than to receive. They give and spare not, give liberally and upbraid not; they give a portion to seven and also to eight, and do not spare for fear of wanting.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The desire of the slothful killeth him,.... His desire…
The desire of the slothful killeth him,.... His desire after food and raiment, and riches; for because he cannot have what he desires, being unwilling to work for them, it frets and vexes him to death, or puts him upon unlawful methods to obtain them, which bring him to a shameful death; see Pro 13:4;
for his hands refuse to labour; when he is ordered by his superiors, or his wants are such as call for labour; and he seems to be willing and desirous of it, necessity obliging to it, yet he cannot bring his hands to it; these do in effect say, as Aben Ezra observes, Thou shall not do it. Maimonides says this is to be understood of sloth in seeking wisdom (h).
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(h) Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 34. p. 47.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Killeth - Torments him to death, while he passionately…
Killeth - Torments him to death, while he passionately desires what he sees, he shall not enjoy, and will not take pains to procure.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 25. The desire of the slothful killeth him]…
Verse 25. The desire of the slothful killeth him] He desires to eat, drink, and be clothed: but as he does not labour, hence he dies with this desire in his heart, envying those who possess plenty through their labour and industry. Hence he is said to covet greedily all the day long, Pr 21:26, while the righteous, who has been laborious and diligent, has enough to eat, and some to spare.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 21:25-26. The desire of the slothful killeth him…
Pro 21:25-26. The desire of the slothful killeth him — Torments him almost to death, while he passionately desires that which he sees he shall not enjoy, and will not take pains to procure. He coveteth greedily all the day long — Spends his whole time in vain and lazy desires, but will not labour to gain any thing, either to use himself, or to give to others. But the righteous giveth, and spareth not — By God’s blessing upon his industry he procures enough not only for his own support, but also for the liberal relief of others.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Killeth him - He wastes his strength and life…
Killeth him - He wastes his strength and life in unsatisfied longings for something which he has not energy to gain. The wish to do great or good things may sometimes be taken for the deed, but if the hindrance is from a man’s own sloth, it does but add to his condemnation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain Often have the shame and wretchedness of sloth been…
Often have the shame and wretchedness of sloth been before us. Here is the finishing stroke. The desire of the slothful killeth him. It leads to no effort, therefore to no fruit. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Pro 13:12 ); and perpetual vexation frets him to death.†1 ’What he longs for, he does not set his hand to purchase. But he would rather sit still and starve.’†2 He thinks to live by wishing, not by working.†3 Some faint desires he may have to work. But the effort to "take his hand out of his bosom"†4 is too great. His hands therefore, as if they were given him only to be folded, refuse to labor. There is no want of physical power and activity. He could spend his whole time in ’busy idleness;’†5 but for useful labor he has no heart. Meanwhile, with all his inactivity, he is a prey all day long to a greedy covetousness; tantalized with insatiable desires; while the hope of enjoyment, though not out of sight, yet, from want of exertion, is out of reach. Thus, dreaming of the end without mortification or godly exercise, he dies with his desires in his mouth; envying those, whose industrious diligence enables them to give, and spare not.†6
Such is the temporal evil of sloth; one of the many forms of moral selfishness, that paralyze alike our energy and our comfort. But far more ruinous is it in the higher and deeper concern. The stamp of death is broad and palpable upon the heartless professor. (Rev 3:1 .) We ask — What is his religion? He hopes he has a desire; and he has often heard that ’the desire of grace is grace.’ Now this is true, if the desire be predominant. Faint as it may be in its first dawn, it "is the smoking flax," which the Savior "will not quench" (Mat 12:20 ), but kindle into a flame. But if it is always a desire, and no more, habitually overcome by a contrary inclination; instead of grace, it is a delusion, a mere sentimental excitement, to lull the conscience asleep. ’How can an object, which standeth in a fixed distance from the nature which it should perfect, be procured by idle and standing affections? Those affections must have life in them, which would bring life after them. Dead desires are deadly desires.’†7 Beware then of the sluggard’s cry. His desires, instead of carrying life in them, are cold things that strike death into the soul. Earnest seeking is the test of godly desire.†8 No quarter will be left unexplored, where we might find our God;†9 no means of grace unimproved, where we might enjoy his presence. (Isa 64:5 .) It was an excellent prayer of Sir Thomas More — ’Lord! make me to bestow pains in getting those things, for the obtaining of which I am used to pray unto thee.’
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If some will call this active energy legal, our Lord’s command to "labour"†10 proves, that it is scriptural. Whoever does not strive to come near to the standard, has never really apprehended it. Whoever desires only, and refuses to labor to be a growing Christian daily, gives doubtful evidence whether he be a Christian at all. Some profess to be hindered from duty, because they have no heart for it, like the man whom cold would keep from the fire, which was intended to warm him. The sluggard talks about grace — His "soul desireth, and hath nothing." (Pro 13:4 .) Effort is the death of sloth. It sweeps away most, and endures the remaining difficulties, confident of ultimate success.
Not that the power is in ourselves. But when did God ever fail to help the sinner’s endeavor? "That thou givest, we gather." (Psa 104:28 .) ’The ship is like to be steered with best certainty and success, when the pilot’s eye is to heaven, and his hand at the stern.’†11 And thus prayer and diligence, dependence and energy, harmonize in the Bible; however they may be discordant in the crude systems of man’s devising. Divine agency is given, not to excuse the neglect of human means, but to encourage their improvement. (Php 2:12-13 .) The means are as much the matter of divine self fore-knowledge and counsel, as the ends with which they are connected.
What then want we for active service, but the continued exercise of faith? This gave power at first; this alone sustains the power. Never let us suppose exertion for the prize to be too late. If ever thou art discouraged — much more — if thou art inclined to sloth — set it down in your mind, and pray that God would write it there clear as a sunbeam — ’It is yours — It is yours for all time, and the fruit of it shall be yours for all eternity.’ There is no moment, when the Lord is not giving; when he has not bound himself to give, by infinite and most loving obligations. Deliberately devote yourselves. Put the resolution into practical form, habit, and place. Make all sacrifices for it. Seize all opportunities for making it good. Our work will be our recompense; our labor our wages. And while the slothful man only covets for himself, the righteous, in the flowing of the willing heart, lives for the Church. He has to give, and he spares not. "He is a blessing in the midst of the land."†12
Footnotes:
†1 Virtutem videant, intabescantque relictâ. Pers. Sat. iii. 38.
†2 Bp. Hall.
†3 Pro 12:27; Pro 20:4 .
†4 Pro 19:24.
†5 1Ti 5:13 . Strenua nos exercet inertia. Hor. Ep. Lib. i. xi. 28.
†6 Psa 37:26; Psa 112:9 . Eph 4:28 .
†7 Dr. Reynolds’s Treatise on the Passions, chapter xviii.
†8 Psa 27:4. Isa 26:8-9 . Psa 24:6 .
†9 Job 23:3, Job 23:8-9 .
†10 Joh 6:27. Luk 13:24 .
†11 Bp. Sanderson’s Sermon on 1Co 12:7 .
†12 Isa 19:24. The following exhortations are well worth our pondering — ’Our heart being naturally at a distance from God, it is not a single step, that will bring us near to him. Neither will a few minutes of cold prayer suffice to support our souls. — Let us beware of indolence. Many are the hours and days we lose on our road to heaven. These days will soon amount to years; and we shall be too late at last for the marriage supper. We should willingly exert ourselves to climb a mountain for the sake of a fine view, or a pure air. Let us then use all our strength to climb the mountain of Zion, where we shall breathe a truly vivifying atmosphere, and from whose heights we shall behold the true Eden, the valley of peace, through which flow living waters, and where the tree of life flourishes. May the Lord bestow upon us all the necessary will and energy!’ — Letters and Biography of Felix Neff — a most interesting supplement to Dr. Gilly’s Memorial of a short Life filled up with usefulness, and crowned with glory.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain At all. Hence his desires of riches and wisdom…
At all. Hence his desires of riches and wisdom prove fruitless, chap. xiii. 4.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain desire--that is, of ease and idleness brings him to…
desire--that is, of ease and idleness brings him to starvation.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 25. Desire… killeth him — This is variously interpreted.…
25. Desire… killeth him — This is variously interpreted. Patrick says:
“His sloth moves him to make provision for his desires by robbing, or other unlawful ways, rather than by some honest but laborious calling.” “He desires to eat, and drink, and be clothed; but, as he does not labour, he dies with his desires in his heart.” — Clarke. “The sluggard desires to enjoy a slothful repose, which will destroy him.” — Stuart. Compare Pro_11:23; Pro_13:4; Pro_19:24.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 25. the desire of the slothful killeth him] This…
25. the desire of the slothful killeth him] This may mean either (a) his desire for slothful inaction brings him to want and starvation, because through its indulgence (as the 2nd clause of the verse explains) his hands refuse to do the work by which maintenance is to be obtained; or (b) his desire for the necessaries and comforts of life, or even for nobler things, wears him out with unsatisfied longings. Comp. Pro_21:26 below and Pro_13:4, Pro_19:24. “Idleness is ruin; the soul rusts away, like the sword in Hudibras, which
‘ate into itself for lack
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Of something else to hew and hack.’ ” Horton.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (25) The desire of the slothful killeth them.—Their love…
(25) The desire of the slothful killeth them.—Their love for sloth and pleasure ruins them in soul and body and fortune.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The desire of the slothful killeth him. The craving…
The desire of the slothful killeth him. The craving for ease and rest, and the consequent disinclination for labour, prove fatal to the slothful man. Or, it may be, the mere wish, combined with no active exertion to secure its accomplishment, is fatal to soul, body, and fortune. (comp. Pro_13:4 Pro_19:24) Lesetre quotes Bossuet, "Le paresseux spirituel s"expose aussi a la mort eternelle; car les bone desirs ne suffisient pas pour le salut; il faut encore les oeuvres". (see Mat_7:21 Rom_2:13)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his…
Pro_21:25
The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
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Sloth
Solomon attaches to it several evils.
I. Suicide. The desire of the slothful killeth him. The man who is too lazy to move his limbs or open his eyes is too lazy to have a desire. These desires kill him. There are several things that tend to kill such a man.
1. Ennui. This is what Byron calls that awful yawn which sleep cannot abate. In all life there is not a more crushing power than lassitude. It breeds those morbid moods that explain half the diseases of the rich.
2. Disappointment. Disappointment kills.
3. Envy. The slothful sees others succeed.
4. Poverty. Sloth fills our workhouses with paupers, our prisons with criminals, our army with recruits.
5. Remorse.
II. Greed. He covereth greedily all the day long. In the Paris French translation the words stand thus--All the day long he does nothing but wish. How very expressive at once of the unconquerable indolence and the fretful, envious, pining unhappiness of the sluggard!
III. Unrighteousness. But the righteous giveth and spareth not. This implies that the slothful are neither righteous nor generous. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:25-26
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_21:25-26
THE SWORD OF THE SLUGGARD
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I. A sluggard cannot help desiring the results of toil. It is natural and lawful for men to value bodily health and comfort, and all those blessings which are the ordinary fruits of industry—they are good things which God gives His creatures to enjoy, but they are not His only gifts nor His best gifts. But they are the main objects of the sluggard’s desire, for an inordinate and exclusive love of them has made him a slothful man. If he had put his reputation and his duty before his love of ease—if he had listened to the voice of conscience rather than to the pleadings of self-indulgence, he would be a worker instead of a mere wisher. The text suggests that mere desire to possess is not a power strong enough to turn an indolent man into an industrious one, although it is strong enough to make him miserable and wicked. For—
II. A sluggard is an unrighteous man. This is both implied and expressed in the proverb. He is placed in contrast with the righteous man as one of an opposite character, and he is declared to be an habitual breaker of the tenth commandment. Covetousness is a sin nearly allied to envy, and both are in themselves transgressions of the moral law, and often lead to more heinous crimes. Let no man, then, say that his refusal to take his part in the work of the world is a matter which concerns himself alone, for even if a man were not responsible for a negative existence, such a course is certain to lead to positive sin.
III. He is a self-destroyer. This is a phase of sloth which has not been placed before us in former proverbs on the subject. The sluggard not only makes wretched the existence which it is his great aim to pamper, but he shortens it. His covetous and unsatisfied state of mind is as a canker-worm at the root of all that he does possess, and, deprived of the healthful influence of labour, he becomes an easy prey to disease and death. It is probable that nothing undermines the bodily constitution more surely than unsatisfied desire. Men who have been great workers, but who have not seen the desire of their hearts fulfilled, have often died in consequence. How much more likely will the slothful man be to die under such a disappointment! If the rust eats into the sword which is in constant use, how much more certainly will it destroy that which is never drawn from the scabbard!
IV. The righteous man is a worker and a giver. He is in all respects the exact opposite of the sluggard. He works not so much because of the gain of labour as because he loves to work, and because it is wrong to be idle. This he shows by the use he makes of much that he gains—he gives with an unsparing hand. In both he is an imitator of the righteous God, who is the Greatest Worker and the Greatest Giver in the universe. The righteousness of God prompts Him to bountiful acts towards needy creatures, and the righteousness of His righteous servants prompts them to do like deeds, according to their ability. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. Pro_13:4, page 296.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The desire kills him. Why? Because he will not gratify it. The way to gratify it is to get it accomplished.… Say not, It is the refusal that kills and not the desire. That is not altogether the case. The spark that is too weak to grow puts itself out by its attempts. The desire that is too dull to act has treasured in it the last remainders of the heart, and in its languid throbs makes itself the instrument of its own growing dissolution.—Miller.
In the Paris French translation the words stand thus—“All the day long he does nothing but wish.” How very expressive at once of the unconquerable indolence and the fretful, envious, pining unhappiness of the sluggard! And in his wishing, he may at times, by the power of a sanguine imagination, work himself into hope; and then, disappointment only embitters the cup of his own mingling,—aggravates the misery, which he is painfully conscious is self-inflicted.—Further: he appears before us a stranger to all the positive and exquisite pleasures of charity and beneficence; but “the righteous giveth and spareth not.” It is not said, you will observe—“the diligent giveth and spareth not;” because there are not a few who are sufficiently exemplary in diligence, to whom the Bible would not give the designation of “the righteous,” and who are far from being distinguished for benevolence. But the antithesis, as it stands here, implies these three things: First, that diligence is one of the features in the character of the righteous:—Secondly, that the natural tendency, and ordinary result of this is, through the divine blessing, abundance to spare:—Thirdly, that another distinguishing feature of the character of the righteous man, is readiness to part with what his industry acquires—“giving, and not sparing;” that is, giving cheerfully, and giving liberally; not assenting merely to the truth of the maxim, as being the word of the Lord, but feeling the truth of it in their own heart’s experience—“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Wardlaw.
It is not said by Paul, “If any man do not work, neither let him eat,” for some would work and cannot get it, others would work and are not able, but “If any man will not work,” if any have work to do, and will not, let him not eat. In the same manner the wise man speaketh; he doth not say, his hands do not labour, but his hands refuse to labour.… But he sheweth that though a sluggard be idle himself, yet his desire be so hard a labourer, that it is a daily labourer, and such a daily labourer painfully worketh all the day long. So that although he have no hands to work, his desire hath hands to beg and crave of him; which being not satisfied, is a just punishment of his careless sluggishness. But the righteous man, being as earnest in his labour as the other in his desire, getteth enough, not only to satisfy his own desire, but to supply the wants of others.—Jermin.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 25. The desire of the slothful, his natural…
v. 25. The desire of the slothful, his natural appetites and needs, for which he refuses to provide, killeth him, for want of diligence he dies of want; for his hands refuse to labor; too lazy to work, he is bound to starve.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The desire of the lazy kills him
The desire of the lazy kills him
The writer speaks of what a person wants as if it were a person who could kill a lazy person. Here the lazy person wants to be idle and not work. AT: "A lazy person only wants to be idle, and because of that he will die" or "A lazy person will die because he does not want to work" (See: Personification and Nominal Adjectives)
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his hands refuse
The hand is a synecdoche for the person. AT: "he refuses" (See: Synecdoche)
craves
desires strongly
gives and does not hold back
The phrase "does not hold back" can be stated positively, and what he gives can be made explicit. AT: "gives everything he should" or "gives generously" (See: Litotes)
translationWords
hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.